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This may be a cynical take on things, but it seems to me that the 'fake news factories' figured out that the core product of a political website is confirmation

by nickff 10y ago

This may be a cynical take on things, but it seems to me that the 'fake news factories' figured out that the core product of a political website is confirmation of existing beliefs, then 'unbundled' it from everything else.

dilemma 10y ago
This is exactly how Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer designed their news products 100 years ago.
TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
Well, political news have had a pseudo-legitimate form of this for a long time: opinion and comment sections. Completely fabricated news is a step up, though.
astrodust 10y ago
Unbundled from reality. Tied to profit. It's an environment where they can rapidly iterate on what the most "click-worthy" stories are and dial in the content to meet audience expectations. This is worse than the pure sugar being fed by useless news organizations like CNN where their coverage has almost zero informational value. This is like heroin where it's actively feeding wild misconceptions.
- tombone12 10y ago
  I find it funny how globalism is leaking back into the US in unexpected ways; who would have thought twenty years ago that a Georgian citizen would take flak for derailing a US election by producing pulp news? It was always supposed to be the American eagle spreading its freedom to the world who gratefully welcomed it with praise, they weren't actually supposed to influence the US back!
  - my_first_acct 10y ago
    Some geopolitical irony here. Georgia has been trying join NATO; President Trump will quite possibly recognize Georgia as being in the Russian sphere of influence.
  - edblarney 10y ago
    "It was always supposed to be the American eagle spreading its freedom to the world who gratefully welcomed it with praise, they weren't actually supposed to influence the US back! " They can 'influence' back as long as it's reasonable. Articles like: 'Hillary and Trump have secret sexual encounter' is not 'news' and not any kind of positive influence.
- beambot 10y ago
  > It's an environment where they can rapidly iterate on what the most "click-worthy" stories are and dial in the content to meet audience expectations. Ha! That literally describes most websites... including some factors in the Google ranking algorithm. I guess that's what happens when damn-near every website on earth optimizes for user engagement.
tpeo 10y ago
If you see that much of a difference, you weren't being cynical enough.

by nickff 10y ago

dilemma 10y ago

This is exactly how Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer designed their news products 100 years ago.

TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago

Well, political news have had a pseudo-legitimate form of this for a long time: opinion and comment sections. Completely fabricated news is a step up, though.

astrodust 10y ago

Unbundled from reality. Tied to profit. It's an environment where they can rapidly iterate on what the most "click-worthy" stories are and dial in the content to meet audience expectations. This is worse than the pure sugar being fed by useless news organizations like CNN where their coverage has almost zero informational value. This is like heroin where it's actively feeding wild misconceptions.

tombone12 10y ago
I find it funny how globalism is leaking back into the US in unexpected ways; who would have thought twenty years ago that a Georgian citizen would take flak for derailing a US election by producing pulp news? It was always supposed to be the American eagle spreading its freedom to the world who gratefully welcomed it with praise, they weren't actually supposed to influence the US back!
- my_first_acct 10y ago
  Some geopolitical irony here. Georgia has been trying join NATO; President Trump will quite possibly recognize Georgia as being in the Russian sphere of influence.
- edblarney 10y ago
  "It was always supposed to be the American eagle spreading its freedom to the world who gratefully welcomed it with praise, they weren't actually supposed to influence the US back! " They can 'influence' back as long as it's reasonable. Articles like: 'Hillary and Trump have secret sexual encounter' is not 'news' and not any kind of positive influence.
beambot 10y ago
> It's an environment where they can rapidly iterate on what the most "click-worthy" stories are and dial in the content to meet audience expectations. Ha! That literally describes most websites... including some factors in the Google ranking algorithm. I guess that's what happens when damn-near every website on earth optimizes for user engagement.

tpeo 10y ago

If you see that much of a difference, you weren't being cynical enough.